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Established in Sheffield, England since 1840 we are the region’s oldest Auctioneers and Valuers, (incorporating A. E. Dowse & Son Limited). Sheffield Auction Gallery and our team of Specialist Valuers give free detailed advice on all aspects of pre-Auction Valuation and Auction Sale.

The Sheffield Postcard Collection

over 10,000 Snapshots of Sheffield Sold at Auction

Further to this auction;

After a very significant amount of pre-auction interest in this unique collection and strong bidding in the auction room from buyers both present and those online, the last lot sold, bringing the total hammer price to £27,000 (plus 22.2% buyers premium)

Auctioneer John Morgan said; “It has been a pleasure to bring this collection to the market today and very satisfying to achieve more than double the initial top estimate for the Vendor, reflecting the years of dedication he has spent creating this collection. After all of his hard work we are delighted with the result.”

In a city with perhaps 6,000 roads and streets and a population of approximately 500,000 people, it is perhaps difficult to imagine a collection in excess of 10,000 postcards; all different and representing the history of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. On average, collected at a rate of over one card every two days for 50 years, this single owner collection represents a true pictorial history of Sheffield, from the late Victorian era through to the 1980’s.

The collection was put together by a Sheffield man with an insight of capturing the changing face of the city in its many aspects over nearly 100 years. Although many of the postcards are topographical in nature and meticulously catalogued in postcode order, the postcards also reach out into many aspects of Sheffield’s social history including transport, sport, politics, industry, entertainment and advertising among many other eclectic subjects including cards of the 1921 Great fire of Heeley, Sheffield’s largest peace-time fire, the 1914/15 Sheffield United F.A. cup winning team and a wonderful selection of 1920’s works trips aboard the charabancs of W. Caudle and Co.

Following 50 devoted years of collecting, the Vendor has come to the decision that new custodians are now sought for the collection and it has been collated and catalogued in order to be to be sold at Sheffield Auction Gallery on Thursday 12th September in some 250 lots.

“Without doubt the largest single city collection of postcards we have ever been asked to bring to the market and it feels wonderfully fitting that it has been collected and will be sold in Sheffield”, commented Auctioneer John Morgan. He continued; “Although we expect a great deal of local interest, the depth and insight of the collection will draw enquiries from many quarters in perhaps what will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire postcards from this outstanding collection”